Today In Entertainment OCTOBER 26, 2020
What's news: China's box office continues to trounce the rest of the world, Fox Newsers quarantine after possible COVID exposure, Sacha Baron Cohen vs. President Trump in a war of words, Adele sings on SNL, changes at Left Bank Pictures and Cooke Optics. Plus: CNN teams with LeBron James on Black Wall Street doc, and the Laurence Olivier Award winners. --Alex Weprin China's Box Office Extends Its Domination ➤As cinemas throughout the West languish, China's box office continues to boom. Local war epic The Sacrifice opened to $53 million over the weekend, helping to extend China's lead over North America as the biggest theatrical market of 2020, data from Artisan Gateway shows. The numbers. +A sign of what's to come? The COVID-19 second wave has hit Europe and cinemas across the continent are again shutting down. Italy, which in February became the first country in Europe to close cinemas due to the coronavirus pandemic, and which re-opened theaters in June, is set to shut down again, starting from today. More. ➤Fox Newsers quarantine after possible COVID exposure. Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, Fox News president Jay Wallace and The Five co-hosts Dana Perino and Juan Williams are among those quarantining after a person they traveled with on a private plane later tested positive for COVID-19. --The New York Times, which broke the story, reports that everyone on board a flight chartered by the channel from New York to Nashville last week have been advised to quarantine and get tested. The final presidential debate was held Thursday in Nashville, and many Fox on-air talent and staff were in attendance to cover the event. More. Trump v. Borat ➤In what was surely a welcome war of words for the actor, Sacha Baron Cohen responded to criticism from President Donald Trump on Saturday. "Donald — I appreciate the free publicity for Borat! I admit, I don’t find you funny either," wrote Cohen on Twitter. "But yet the whole world laughs at you. I’m always looking for people to play racist buffoons, and you’ll need a job after Jan. 20. Let’s talk!" --This came after Trump was asked by reporters on Friday night whether he had seen Rudy Giuliani's appearance in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, in a scene where he is shown in a compromising position with actor Maria Bakalova's character Tutar, and if he was worried about security breaches. More. +Speaking of Trump, THR's Seth Abramovitch spoke to former SNL writer and Senator Al Franken,who had plenty to say about the President, and the Senate's rushed hearings to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. More. ➤On Saturday Night Live: SNL recreated the recent and final presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic opponent Joe Biden in its cold open, with Maya Rudolph playing moderator Kristen Welker... Adele hosted for the first time, with H.E.R. serving as the musical guest... Despite her opening remarks that she'd stick to acting during her inaugural hosting gig, Adele still found opportunities to sing. In a spoof of The Bachelor, she played herself and burst into several of her hits depending on the situation — from "Someone Like You" when Beck Bennett's bachelor gave a rose to another girl to "Hello" when he went on a solo date with someone else... The sketches... Revolving Door ➤Suzanne Mackie, creative director at The Crown's production company Left Bank Pictures, has left the acclaimed Brit producer, setting up her own London-based entity Orchid Pictures that will work across TV and film. Mackie will remain engaged by Netflix through Orchid Pictures, and will continue as executive producer on The Crown for seasons 5 and 6. The story. +Marking a major change at Cooke Optics, American Society of Cinematographers past president Kees van Oostrum and Tim Pugh have been named as the new leaders of the U.K.-headquartered motion picture lens maker. --Chairman Les Zellan, who has been with the company since 1998, will be stepping down, and CEO Robert Howard, who joined Cooke in 2008, will be retiring, both effective Oct. 31. In their new roles, Pugh will serve as CEO and board member van Oostrum assumes the title of non-executive chairman. More. ➤The SpringHill Company and CNN Films have partnered to produce Dreamland: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street, a documentary about the history of Black Wall Street ahead of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. --In June, the NBA star's SpringHill Company unveiled the upcoming project to mark the centennial of the violent events of the summer of 1921 in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma. CNN Films will be the linear TV distributor for the feature across North America, with HBO Max acquiring streaming rights to the film. More. ➤Obituaries: William Blinn, the two-time Emmy winner who penned the Prince-starring Purple Rain, created Starsky & Hutch and wrote for such landmark TV projects as Roots, Fame and Brian's Song, has died. He was 83... Jerry Jeff Walker, the country singer who wrote the 1968 hit "Mr. Bojangles," has died. He was 78... In other news... --"God willing we'll all be back working together," said director Spike Lee as he accepted the Trailblazer Award on Saturday during a virtual presentation of the 7th annual Location Managers Guild International Awards. --Andrew Scott and Ian McKellen were among acting winners as Britain's Laurence Olivier Awards celebrated the best of the London stage in bittersweet fashion Sunday night — most U.K. theaters remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. --Roddy Ricch and The Weeknd topped the 2020 American Music Awards nominations, scoring a leading eight nods each, including for the top prize of artist of the year. --NBA star Shaquille O'Neal is set to star in the animated kids series Shaq's Garage. The action adventure series will portray the secret adventures of O'Neal's collection of animated cars and trucks, with each having unique skills like musical stylings, Shaq Fu and their mastery of the ultra-secret language of Shaqanese and the Shaqtionary. --Brad Pitt narrated a new campaign ad for Democratic candidate Joe Biden that aired during the World Series game on Saturday. --Esports organization Cloud9 unveiled on Sunday an all-female professional roster of athletes. --Robert Evans' estate auction over the weekend hauled in quite a bit of cash, including his Helmut Newton photograph collection which sold for $486,972, according to Julien’s Auctions. What else we're reading... --"Entertainers auction off royalties to pave future career path" [LA Times] --"How AdWeek visionary Reese Witherspoon turned Hollywood on its head" [AdWeek] --"The white issue: Has Anna Wintour's diversity push come too late?" [NY Times] --"How Baby Yoda made The Mandalorian a hit and what comes next" [The Ringer] --"How to shop for Halloween costumes in this bizarre year" [Wired] Today's birthdays: Hillary Clinton, 73, Bootsy Collins, 69, Rita Wilson, 64, Pat Sajak, 74, Seth MacFarlane, 47.
Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? ©2020 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. OCTOBER 26, 2020
|